Der Duft Playground, AI image by Nicoleta

Founded by visual artist and perfumer Anselm Skogstad, DER DUFT is a perfume house that wears its name like a manifesto: Der Duft – The Scent. Irreverently minimalist in concept but emotionally maximalist in execution, DER DUFT speaks of fragrance as a true art form – one that captures memories, stirs emotions, and forges connections.

DER DUFT is a fragrance house created by Anselm Skogstad, a visual artist who approaches scent like a composition – and it shows, as all the perfumes in the collection are layered, textured, and deeply personal. They all carry the imprint of their creator – artists like Anne-Sophie Behaghel, Antonio Alessandria, Miguel Matos, Nathalie Feisthauer, and Alex Lee bringing their own voice, style, and emotion into the mix. What emerges is a collection with many facets: some soft, some bold, some playful, others quietly introspective. A full spectrum of feelings – sometimes unexpected, often complex, some of them challenging – but always personal.

Anselm Skogstad, photo via Instagram

Just like Monopteros – one of my favorites from the brand – DER DUFT Playground is also composed by Anselm himself, which made me all the more curious to discover it. And surprise: it turned out to be one of the most effortlessly joyful, bright, and easy-to-wear scents in the entire collection.

 “A place where you can play, free from worries and pressures! Your place, your game.” Anselm Skogstad

 Here in Eastern Europe, spring has been playing hard to get this year – we’ve had snow in April, just before Easter, and the skies have stayed a stubborn shade of grey for longer than I care to count the months for.  This year, more than ever, I’m really craving summer. I’ve been longing for light, warmth, and something – anything – that smells like a breath of fresh air. And Playground landed on my skin at just the right time.

 

AI mood image by Nicoleta 

The first seconds made me sniff -pause – and feel. Something about it hit that soft, familiar spot, of instant nostalgia. That melan-choly (melon-calone) mix of aquatic-fruity freshness that stirs something quiet in the background brought me back to memories of my beloved L’Eau from Kenzo (the good, late 90’s one). Playground – in the first moments – feels like a modern version of that – transparent yet still textured, full of airy light, and still carrying that same translucent watery joy.

Imagine a coconut-free tropical – the clean girl aesthetic-Scandinavian-blonde-haired cousin of a beach scent. The tiaré is airy, easy, breezy, and luminous, carried by soft marine winds, and wrapped in a cashmere-like warmth that clings gently to the skin. It smells like a white towel after drying off in the sun, of sand-filled strands of hair that still hold the faint sweetness of melon shampoo and the salty imprint of the sea.

via Unsplash

Playground doesn’t smell like drifting off on a lazy summer afternoon –  it’s the complete opposite. There’s something youthful and solar about it, a clean-bright rhythm that pulses with joy. It’s the energy of running out of the sea, salt still on your lips, grabbing slices of melon, and half-melting ice cream with sandy fingers. Of laughing barefoot across the beach, jumping back in line for another turn on the swing, not wanting the day to end. Playground smells like that – the sun catching your skin again and again, peeking through the gaps between moving leaves, wrapping everything in golden light.

DER DUFT Playground, AI image by Nicoleta

It feels kinetic – an olfactive loop, like pushing your body on a swing, back and forth, playing with balance and gravity. The citrus notes give you the first push-off, the fruit rises in a soft arc, and the florals hover, weightless and light. Then the gentle return: skin-hugging musks pulling you back in. Warmth beneath a white t-shirt. Young. Alive. Carefree.

A dose of happiness that circles on repeat – a happy glitch in the matrix.  In the best possible way.

Notes: Calabrian Bergamot, Honeydew Melon, Marine Notes, Jasmin Absolute, Lily Of The Valley, Tiaré, Cashmere Wood, Musk, White Amber

Nicoleta Tomsa, Senior Editor

Disclosure: A sample was offered by the brand, opinions are always my own.

Also, check out the articles on: In Flagranti, Canvas, Match, Cinematic, Monopteros, Pride, Act, Grasse, and Bubble

DER DUFT Playground, image via the brand

Thanks to the generosity of Der Duft we have a bottle of Playground for one registered reader from the EU or UK ONLY. You must register or your entry will not count. To be eligible, please leave a comment saying what sparks your interest based on Nicoleta’s review and where you live. Draw closes  May 2, 2025

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